


Memories and regrets

by vickuu



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cassunzel Week 2020 (Disney), F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vickuu/pseuds/vickuu
Summary: Now that Cassandra is back in Corona for some time, Rapunzel takes her to the place where everything began.
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Memories and regrets

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for Cassunzel Week, day 5: Heartbreak.

“Raps? Can I open my eyes now?”

“Nope, not yet!” she sang happily. “But we’re almost there!”

Cassandra walked blindly through who-knows-where, guided only by Rapunzel’s hand holding hers. Ever since they’d left the Corona walls behind, she had been very cryptic about some place she wanted to show her, and although that premise should have reminded her of something, she let Rapunzel go on with her mysterious surprise.

“You know, I don’t enjoy the feeling of kicking and stepping on stuff I can’t see” Cassandra squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her boot stepping on some soft substance. Most likely feces.

“If it makes you feel better, I’m still barefoot” the princess giggled, skipping rocks and guiding an all very cautious Cassandra.

She grinned. “That’s on you”, she replied. Suddenly, she felt her boot sinking in some viscous liquid. _Quicksand?_ “Okay, Rapunzel, _where_ are we?” she blurted out, panicking at the initial sensation of going down. Rapunzel didn’t struggle much to help her out of it.

“Oh! Oh, sorry, Cass. The thing is, Varian has been experimenting out here, and while working on a hot running water system, there was a leak and… now all this place is a little swamped” With both of them now standing on a rock, away from the muddy puddles, Rapunzel checked on Cassandra. “I’m surprised you haven’t opened your eyes yet,” she said, squeezing her hand.

“Well, you’ve told me not to, so I just…” she started to say as she opened her eyes, but she didn’t finish that thought.

Cassandra stared in awe at something she had already seen scores of times: the same spot where the sundrop flower had been found so many years before. The inscription on the stone remained there as the center of a sort of altar: an elegant arch stood behind it, from which hung several decorations such as flower garlands. A little roof crowned the place and kept it from getting damaged by the rain.

“My parents and I… we thought it’d be nice to make a little memorial monument of this place” Rapunzel explained, her voice now filled with melancholy. “Of course, it’s nothing too flashy… we just wanted this to be a place for us to remember… and that includes you” her voice trembled as she turned to Cassandra and saw her troubled expression, that looked like she was reliving everything that had happened since the last time they had been there. “Cass, I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have brought you here after all…” she apologized, approaching her in an attempt to comfort her.

Cassandra breathed in, reminding herself she had already gotten over this. She held out a hand at Rapunzel, signaling she was okay. She really was, as she had already had the time to heal and learn from her mistakes, and she knew no matter how hard she wanted them to disappear, they wouldn’t be erased from her memory. The monument seemed to be there only to celebrate the existence of the sundrop that saved the queen and the princess, but to Cassandra, there was so much more to it.

Something was missing, though, compared to the last time they’d visited the place.

“So… no rocks?” is all she managed to say.

“No rocks” Rapunzel replied, both of them looking forward. “They all vanished when I sent the moonstone and the sundrop to the outer space… whew,” she passed a hand through her hair, remembering that moment with relief.

Cassandra smiled, turning to the princess. “Yeah. That was pretty cool of you”

“There was saving to do, after all!” she couldn’t help letting out a laugh as she puffed up her chest and put her hands to her sides, prideful, the happy moment only lasting a few seconds. Her expression quickly became somber, something weird to see in her. “I… don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t been able to save you, Cass” Rapunzel looked to the ground, a hypothetical fear slightly growing on her. The nightmares that haunted her had made sure she didn´t get that thought off her mind.

Cassandra had never seen such a sad expression on Rapunzel, and she didn’t know how to react. “Don’t worry, Raps. I’m here. You saved me. That’s all that matters” she said, swallowing her feelings about the situation. They had been buried deep inside her for long, but she could feel them growing back the more time they spent there.

“Still, Cass. Both the sundrop and the moonstone just- _happened_ to be there. Maybe, after all, if ̶ ”

Cassandra interrupted her in a troubled but firm tone. “You saved me, Rapunzel. End of the story” She needed this conversation to be over. She couldn’t contain her demons any longer, not in that place, not with her.

“Yeah, but maybe ̶ ”

“Maybe I would have deserved it!” Cassandra said quickly, as if saying it faster would mean Rapunzel wouldn’t hear it. Wrong.

The expression on Rapunzel’s face changed from dark to unreadable: realization, pain, but mostly anger. “No,” she said, stern as ever, confronting Cassandra. “ _Never._ In a million years, no matter ̶ ”

“Raps” Cassandra sounded desperate “I nearly killed you, several times! I didn’t hesitate to destroy the place I grew up in. I betrayed everyone, I tried to extort you and threaten you. At some point I was actually _willing_ to eliminate you” Cassandra listed, her voice trembling in guilt. She had been hiding her shame for way too long, another habit of hers that never did her any good, and now she finally seemed to be pouring it all out.

“You were being manipulated” Rapunzel insisted, her heart breaking a little every time.

“That doesn’t excuse my actions! I let myself be manipulated to do terrible things”. Even though some time had passed, the wound was still open, at least for Cassandra, and even if she could forgive herself, she couldn’t help but be critical.

“We- We all did things we regret, Cass. It was me in the first place who made you feel that way, and I never really apologized… I…” Rapunzel kept her hands to her chest, now barely trying not to cry.

“Save it, Raps,” Cassandra said, looking at the girl in tears. To think she’d once wished to get rid of her. “Even now, in hindsight, it’s obvious that wasn’t the way to go, no matter how I felt. You didn’t deserve any of what I did” she sighed, still extremely disappointed at her past self.

“The same way you never deserved to die, Cass! You’re _not_ anything you did while being manipulated” Rapunzel spoke softly but reassuringly, trying to fix it in her mind.

The tension suddenly died down.

They both remained silent, looking at the floor as they tried to contain themselves. They reflected on everything that had been said, and they both understood.

One second later, Rapunzel was on her tiptoes, giving Cassandra one of her best hugs. “I couldn’t let you go,” she whispered in her ear, letting her uneasiness leave her body.

Cassandra felt a wave of warmth in her heart that made up for all the grief that she had just gone through. She hugged Rapunzel back, embracing the gift she had as a best friend.

“I’m glad to be alive.”


End file.
